1st Jul 2016 06:19
LONDON (Alliance News) - Drugmaker AstraZeneca PLC on Friday said it has entered into licensing agreements with LEO Pharma AS covering skin-disease treatments.
AstraZeneca said it has signed a deal with LEO, a Danish dermatology care specialist, to licence its tralokinumab treatment for patients with atopic dermatitis, an inflammatory skin disease. LEO will make an upfront USD115.0 million payment to AstraZeneca for the global rights to tralokinumab and will pay AstraZeneca up to USD1.0 billion in commercially-related milestones, plus royalties on product sales.
"This agreement allows us to concentrate our efforts on tralokinumab's potential for patients with severe asthma, a priority area for AstraZeneca, while benefitting from LEO Pharma's expertise in dermatology for the continued development and commercialisation of tralokinumab in atopic dermatitis and other dermatology conditions," said Luke Miels, executive vice-president of global product and portfolio strategy at AstraZeneca.
In addition, AstraZeneca said it has terminated a licence held by an affiliate of US-based Valent Pharmaceuticals International Inc to develop and commercialise brodalumab, a treatment for skin disease psoriasis, in Europe.
Simultaneously, AstraZeneca has signed a deal for the licence to brodalumab in Europe with LEO.
"These agreements allow us to capitalise on LEO's strong track record of bringing new dermatological treatments to patients in Europe, while enabling Valeant to focus on bringing brodalumab to market in the US and other key markets. We are confident that working with both partners, we can maximise the reach of this potential new medicine to help psoriasis patients across the globe," Miels added.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
Copyright 2016 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
Astrazeneca